The seven prep football teams comprising Region 3 will have better odds of postseason playoff appearances, thanks to the recent league realignment that brought Bingham, Hillcrest and West Jordan from the old Region 2 to join Region 3 refugees Cyprus, Granger, Kearns and Taylorsville.
Of the seven, only Granger and Kearns made it to the 16-team 4A state playoffs last year - and together they compiled a 1-2 postseason record as Kearns stumbled in the opening round and Granger suffering its only loss of the season in the quarterfinals.With each of the four 4A leagues receiving four playoff berths, the seven Region 3 teams will have enhanced opportunities to enter postseason play.
Bingham
Leading the Miner returnees is second-team all-state lineman Jason Burge, who doubles at center and defensive tackle. Also back are '88 starters RB-DB Tyler Johnson, QB Quinn Remund, OG Justin Hyatt and WR Chad Palmer.
"We feel that's a prety good group of guys to start win," said Coach Son Sudbury. "At the skill positions, you're looking at quarterback, running back and receiver."
Cyprus
The bulk of the Pirates' returning starters are just that - the bulk - with four back on offense and another pair on defene. The half-dozen returnees with experience include the foursome of John Hirschi, Chris Neeley, Ed Huber and Francis Leota.
A change in the Cyprus attack - "from a `no' offense to the option," says Coach Jerry Simonsen - means that '88 starting RB Troy Miller will move to quarterback to be even more involved.
Granger
While the Lancers have seemed to stumble a bit in postseason play of late, their regular-season successes in recent years have been well-chronicled. "We've won four region titles in the past five years," said Coach Mike Fraser. "That's always our goal - and it's a difficult thing to do."
Headlining the five returning starters is senior quarterback Craig Van Woerkom, while Scott Lundell will double at tight end and linebacker again this year. The Lancer line is relatively depleted, excepting experienced returnees Travis Ketchum, C.J. Crawford and Marty Kinnear, the latter doubling at FB.
Hillcrest
Coach Jerry Haslam can count the number of returning starters on not just one hand but just one finger - only tight end Marty Borg saw much playing time last year, and that was in a limited role at tight end.
"It's a brand-new start," said Haslam, who adds that he's scrambling still to fill a starting lineup . "We've got a few younger brothers of players from last year, but everybody's relatively new and we've got a lot of juniors out."
Kearns
Kearns is enjoying some of the second-year fruits of success after going 7-2 through the '88 regular season. "That 7-2 has got to be close to as good as Kearns has ever been," said Coach Tom Larson, still mindful that the Cougars haven't advanced past the playoffs' opening round in three of the past four years.
Those "fruits" are 53 varsity players (compared to 33 last year), another 50-plus on the junior varsity team (Kearns' first jayvee team in several seasons), and nine returning starters. The nine include quarterback Jeremy Castro, running back Roger Griffiths and defensive back Fred Scott.
Taylorsville
"Big" is the buzz word for the Warriors this year, with starting linemen averaging 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds. Returning with experience are Lance Scott, a 6-3, 230-pound center and combo DT-LB on defense; and Rob Rogers, a 6-, 260 tackle on both sides. Also back is Clarke Miller, a late-1988 QB replacement for Nic DeLuca, who is out due to injury and grades.
Meanwhile, Coach Randy Tuft has special plans for the tandem of Dwight Robinson and Henry Bloomfield - to start them both not only in the backfield on offense but as part of the defensive line as well.
West Jordan
It's new faces all around for the Jaguars, starting with Coach Rick Bojack, who led Jordan to the 3A championship in 1981 and 1983 and semifinal appearances in 1982 and 1985 before spending the past three years as an assistant at SUSC.
The sole returning WJ starter is Jason Ostler, a 6-foot, 250-pound center who will double as center and defensive tackle. While the defense is really inexperienced, the offense boasts running backs Andy Castensen and Brad Price - both having seen varsity time.